This comment is about as sensible as taking a Cervelo S5 on a loaded tour.

Well have a look at his hair and the spokes, both perfectly in focus and unruffled. They have panned the camera and used a slow shutter speed to blur the background and give the illusion of speed. Lets face it the illusion of speed is all you are going to get on that thing.

I am only stirring you though. If I thought I could get it past the minister I would have that bike or something similar as a disc equipped commuter. It would look good with my aero helmet too

Last edited by warthog1 on Fri Sep 21, 2012 9:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

warthog1 wrote:Lets face it, the illusion of speed is all you are going to get on that thing.

But that's the beauty of Surly. When you buy a Surly (or similar brands) you are not subscribing to the competitive sport culture. All of a sudden is doesn't matter if you are 1% slower than the next person. You don't have to keep chasing your personal best with the all its associated costs. No matter how much you invest in training and equipment, there will always be someone younger and/or faster. Better for me to cycle for health and enjoyment.

Nobody wrote: No matter how much you invest in training and equipment, there will always be someone younger and/or faster. Better for me to cycle for health and enjoyment.

There are Australian Road race champions, Mountain bike champions along with age group champions here. So people are older and faster as well. Cycling alllows me to inflict pain on myself in a socially acceptable manner I just like the competitive side of it and being as good as I can be, so cycling with people who are several levels above is a challenge I am lucky to have. My biggest fear is causing a bunch pile up or something d'oh, so I am very bloody careful

Last edited by warthog1 on Fri Sep 21, 2012 11:53 am, edited 2 times in total.

warthog1 wrote:Lets face it, the illusion of speed is all you are going to get on that thing.

But that's the beauty of Surly. When you buy a Surly (or similar brands) you are not subscribing to the competitive sport culture. All of a sudden is doesn't matter if you are 1% slower than the next person. You don't have to keep chasing your personal best with the all its associated costs. No matter how much you invest in training and equipment, there will always be someone younger and/or faster. Better for me to cycle for health and enjoyment.

+ 1. Really noticed it when I was riding back into town the other day after 3,000 kilometre tour ... the attitude of some roadies ... seriously they made me laugh. Thanks but to all the toots and comments from the boys in hig-viz. They got it

I have had my Disc Trucker for two weeks now, and am really enjoying it.

Still early days, but this bike is ideal for my commute - 35km each way, often carrying books, laptop etc.

The bike is heavy, but once rolling this is not noticeable - my other bike is a Ti roady with Dura Ace group and weighs almost twice as much as the Surly; the commute on the Disc Trucker doesn't seem to take any longer, but then again I don't use a GPS or time my rides......

The bar end shifters are great - I agree that the cable routing is a little fugly, but it works very well and is a no-brainer to set up (I also hope that by going 9 speed I will get a bit longer out of my chains!).

CheersPhil

"A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye."Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

barefoot wrote:I'm amused by the description of the bike's handling, using words like "nimble", "nippy" and "lively".

Me too - I toured Tasmania on a LHT. The most apt description of its ride characteristics that came to mind was "slug".I replaced it with a Ti touring bike, which does actually live up to that description.

I have had my Disc Trucker for two weeks now, and am really enjoying it.

Still early days, but this bike is ideal for my commute - 35km each way, often carrying books, laptop etc.

The bike is heavy, but once rolling this is not noticeable - CheersPhil

Hi PhilYou've got your bike looking mighty fine I've always been a bit dubious about brown/honey coloured saddles but now recognise that some matching bar tape is all thats needed to colour co-ordinate so that it looks "right". My personal preference is for black but I now really like the brown versions too.How are you finding the BB7's in use? I've never had a disk equipped bike yet, but have promised myself that the next one will be. Really like the look of your shiny mudguards which seem to "fit" well with the stem, rack and bidons. Just enough contrasting black with the chainguard (or is that an outer ring), brifters and of course tyres, finished with rim tops to perfect the ensemble.

rifraf wrote:How are you finding the BB7's in use? I've never had a disk equipped bike yet, but have promised myself that the next one will be. Really like the look of your shiny mudguards which seem to "fit" well with the stem, rack and bidons. Just enough contrasting black with the chainguard (or is that an outer ring), brifters and of course tyres, finished with rim tops to perfect the ensemble.

Hi,

The BB7's are fine - great power and feel; much better than any rim brake that I have used. They were very noisy the first few rides, but are quiet in operation now; very easy to set up as well.

Still loving this bike; I have had a couple of very nice bikes in the past, but so far this would be my pick out of them all - not breaking any speed records, but it wins hands down for practicality and comfort, and seems pretty bomb proof so far!

CheersPhil

"A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye."Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Also I thought it was interesting that 4 of the top 5 bikes had Al or steel frames. Of the first placed Canyon bike they wrote:

Controversial. This is an aluminium bike. Surely aluminium has had its day? Well, no. Some people would have you believe that carbon = good, aluminium = bad. They’re wrong. There are plenty of great aluminium bikes out there, as there are great titanium and steel bikes too. This one is fast and lively with electronic shifting and loads more besides. It’s a helluva bike for the cash.